Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and notable as the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation.
It was released on January 24, 1997.
This studio was merged during the post-production of "Cats Don't Dance" into Warner Bros. Animation after the merger of Time Warner with Turner Broadcasting System in 1996. Turner Feature Animation had also produced the animated portions of Turner's 1994 film, The Pagemaster.
The film was the directorial debut of former Disney animator Mark Dindal, and stars the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, Betty Lou Gerson (in her final film role), René Auberjonois, George Kennedy and Dindal.
The film's musical numbers were written by Randy Newman and includes Gene Kelly's contributions as choreographed before his death in 1996. The film was Kelly's final film project which is dedicated to him.
Plot[]
In 1939, Danny, an optimistic cat from Kokomo, Indiana, travels to Hollywood in hopes of starting an acting career there. After meeting a new friend Pudge, a penguin, Danny is selected by agent Farley Wink to feature in a film that is in production at Mammoth Pictures called Li'l Ark Angel, alongside Wink's secretary: a white cat named Sawyer. Upon joining fellow animals; Tilly, Cranston, Frances, and T.W., Danny is dismayed on learning how minor his role is and tries to weasel his way into more time in the spotlight. Danny angers 3-foot-tall Darla Dimple, a popular yet spoiled child actress and star of the film, so she assigns her 36-foot-tall valet Max to intimidate Danny into no longer trying to enlarge his part.
Danny learns from the studio's mascot Wooly the Mammoth, that human actors are normally given more important roles than animals. He longs for the spotlight and tries to make a plan that will encourage humans to provide animal actors with better scenarios, such as by assembling a massive cluster of animals and putting on a musical performance for the humans.
The next day, Danny is given arrangement by Darla on how to interest and satisfy audiences. He takes this advice to heart and groups the animals for an audition on the Ark in hopes of attracting the humans' attention. However, Darla, fearing that the animals will jeopardize her spotlight, has Max help her flood the stage with 100,000 gallons of water while L.B. Mammoth, the head of Mammoth Pictures, and Flanagan, the film's director, are giving an interview. This gets the animals blamed and fired for the collateral damage. The animals are depressed at being barred from acting in Mammoth Pictures, especially Danny, who was deceived by Darla. Wooly advises Danny to return to Kokomo. Later that night, everyone is at a diner, upset with Danny for ruining everything for them, while Sawyer sings a song about Danny trying to keep their dreams alive. Tilly overhears Sawyer singing and suggests Sawyer to follow Danny. Sawyer arrives to the bus stop, just seconds after Danny left, finding his hat and to-do list behind.
However, after a comment from the bus driver and seeing Pudge wander the streets, Danny stops the bus and comes up with another plan. He secretly invites Sawyer and the others to the premiere of Lil' Ark Angel. After the screening and a battle with Max that sends him flying away on a Darla Dimple balloon, Danny calls the audience's attention. Upon bringing Sawyer, Wooly, Tilly, Cranston, Pudge, Frances and T.W. backstage to help Danny, the 8 animals put on a musical performance that entertains and impresses the viewers. Meanwhile, Darla tries to sabotage the show by tampering with the set and special effects equipment, but her attempts instead cause her to enhance the performance, injuring herself in the process. At last, she pulls a "Granddaddy of all switches", but overall, it sets off an enormous fireworks finale, making the animals' performance a complete success and the viewers applaud and cheer wildly.
Darla furiously yells at the animals for overrating her spotlight when her voice is amplified over the theater's sound system due to a boom mic she had been tangled up with, accidentally revealing the truth about the flood incident to the audience, including L.B. and Flanagan. Darla tries to hide her true colors by kissing and hugging Danny, but then again Pudge pulls a lever, and there goes Darla, falling down a trapdoor. L.B. rehires the animals and promotes them as new stars. The animals achieve their dreams for larger roles, Danny and Sawyer admit their feelings for each other. A montage of film poster parodies which put the main animals in the roles of each character (Singin' in the Rain, Casablanca, The Mask, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Witches of Eastwick, Grumpy Old Men, Superman, Beetlejuice, Twister, Batman And Robin, and Free Willy parody) precede the credits. It is shown afterwards that Darla got fired from show business and lost everything: Her mansion, her reputation, etc., and her punishment is work as a janitor. She puts up a "The End" poster on a wall, and it falls down and wraps around her.
Musical Numbers[]
- Opening Song: Our Time Has Come
- Danny's Arrival Song (Hollywood)
- Li'l Boat On The Sea
- Animal Jam
- Big and Loud Pt. 1
- Big and Loud Pt. 2
- Tell Me Lies
- Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
- Our Time Has Come (Reprise)
Voice Cast[]
- Scott Bakula as Danny, an ambitious, optimistically naïve tabby cat who wishes to become a famous Hollywood star.
- Jasmine Guy as Sawyer, a beautiful, but disenchanted white cat secretary of Farley Wink and Danny's love interest. Sawyer eventually supports Danny on him being a successful Hollywood star and reciprocates his feelings towards her at the end of the film. Natalie Cole provides Sawyer's singing voice.
- Matthew Herried as Peabo "Pudge" Pudgemyer, a little penguin and Danny's first friend who looks up to him as a big brother.
- Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple, the psychotic human child star of Hollywood. She conceals her anger and sinister nature from her fans and superiors through a facade of sweetness and innocence. She is referred to as "America's sweetheart, lover of children and animals!" Darla is an apparent parody of the famous former child star Shirley Temple. Lindsay Ridgeway provides Darla Dimple's singing voice.
- Kathy Najimy as Tilly Hippopotamus, a happy-go-lucky hippopotamus who tries to find the best in every situation. She is a hilarious hippopotamus as hinted out by her giggling and snorting, and by how quickly she introduces lots of people (and fellow animals).
- John Rhys-Davies as Wooly the Mammoth, the aging African Elephant who portrays the mammoth mascot for Mammoth Pictures. He originally came to Hollywood to write and perform music where he acts as a mentor to Danny upon befriending him. Wooly is an obvious parody of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mascot Leo the Lion, as he wears fake mammoth tusks and a wig, which are placed on him with doing the Mammoth Pictures icon.
- Betty Lou Gerson as Frances Albacore, a cranky, sarcastic, fish who dances with Cranston Goat and always holds a cigarette holder (like Gerson's most popular character Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians).
- Hal Holbrook as Cranston Goat, a cranky elderly goat who surprisingly loves to dance. He is always seen with Frances and they always dance with each other, implying they have feelings towards each other.
- Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle, a nervous and superstitious turtle who always relies on the fortunes from fortune cookies. He originally came to Hollywood hoping to be an Errol Flynn-type star. Rick Logan provides T.W.'s singing voice.
- George Kennedy as L.B. Mammoth, the human head of Mammoth Studios. His secret of success when asked by anyone is "Simple, it's Dimple!"
- René Auberjonois as Flanagan, the human film director of Li'l Ark Angel who is constantly kissing up to both Darla and L.B.
- Mark Dindal as Max, Darla's enormous valet who obeys Darla's every command and will not hesitate to punish anyone who crosses her. He serves as the direct force that Darla physically lacks as a child.
- Frank Welker as Farley Wink, a human agent for animals and Sawyer's boss, who is a blabber-mouth and talks fast. He thinks Sawyer is cute despite the fact that she dislikes him.
- David Johansen as Bus Driver, a man whose insults towards the animals getting fired from Mammoth Studios inspire Danny with his last plan to give the animals their long-awaited stardom.
- Dee Bradley Baker as Kong, a gorilla whose only appearance is while Danny and Sawyer are going to the set of Li'l Ark Angel at Mammoth Studios. Dee also voices incidental voices such as the Mammoth Studios guide tour.
- Tony Pope as Alligator
- Peter Renaday as Narrator
Box Office[]
"Cats Don't Dance" became a casualty of the Turner/Time Warner merger: it received a traditional theatrical release in 1997, but without fanfare and did not draw an audience.
The film's total domestic theatrical gross was $3,566,637 against its $32 million production budget. Director Mark Dindal was frustrated with Warner over the lack of advertising and the failed marketing campaign.
Critical Reception[]
"Cats Don't Dance" received a 69% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, saying it "lacks the strong plotting and vividly defined characters typical of Disney movies" & described it as "an animated version of an old Hollywood musical."
Peter Stack from the San Francisco Chronicle said, "The G-rated cartoon is packed with appealing characters and crafty production numbers."
Trailer[]
Cats Don't Dance (1997) Trailer (VHS Capture)